International trade route (Civ5)
International Trade Routes are a new feature introduced in the Civilization V: Brave New World expansion pack. These are an improved version of the earlier trade routes. These trade routes are supported primarily by the state, and not only by independent merchants. As such, they are established and controlled by you, via a process which is very complex. However, they are essential for the Gold income of your Empire. Establishing International Trade Routes Requirements To establish International Trade Routes, you first need to develop your technology. Throughout the ages, various technologies (such as Animal Husbandry) expand the number of routes available for your empire. The sum of all your land and sea routes can never exceed this total number (In fact, to make it easier for you, the game doesn't even let you construct more Trade units than the max number of routes available)! You can always choose to establish a different number of each kind (if you have the necessary trade units, of course), up to your total maximum, and according to your current needs. At all times you may see at a glance the total number of routes and the number you're currently using, from the top interface bar. Here are the technologies that increase (each by 1) the number of Trade Routes available: *Ancient Era: Animal Husbandry; Sailing *Classical Era: Engineering *Medieval Era: Compass *Renaissance Era: Banking *Industrial Era: Biology *Modern Era: Refrigeration; Railroad *Atomic Era: Penicilin After you've acquired the scientific means of requirements for establishing Trade Routes, you need to produce civilian Trade units - Caravan, or Cargo Ship, which will conduct the actual trade. Destinations for trade You can establish trade routes with other civilization's cities, with City-States, and even with your own cities. Of course, you have to be at peace with the destination city's owner in order to initiate trade. Also, you don't need to conduct diplomatic talks to establish trade routes - think of it as if you were providing state-supported vehicles and destinations for your eager merchants to conduct their business at your direction! Trading mechanics Each trade route you establish needs one appropriate trade unit (Caravan for Land, Cargo Ship for Sea) in order to function. The Trade units are similar to Aircraft and Missiles in that that they are based in cities, and can't be moved freely on the map. Note that Trade Routes can be established only between cities in range of the current unit's base! So, when you decide to establish a route, first move an appropriate unit in a city in range of your destination. When you click on the Establish Trade Route option of the unit, the possible target cities will appear listed. If the city you want to trade with isn't there, then you may need to re-base your unit, or maybe the city isn't in range yet. In this case, try to extend the range of your Trade Route. *'Note': You can use the Trade Overview screen to see all potentially available trade routes, along with their projected effects, and plan your actions accordingly. After you successfully establish a Trade Route, the trade unit starts circulating between the two cities (its base and the destinated city), and will do so for some determined amount of turns. Their exact position, however, is purely visual and doesn't affect the actual trading - you and your partner share benefits each turn, until the end of the trade. You can see how many turns are left for the current route from the Trade Overview. *'Note': While a trade unit is conducting trade, it's inaccessible - you can't do anything with it, or control it in any way. After the turns left for the current trade route run out, you have to reassign it. Land routes Land trade routes are established with Caravans. The default range for a Land route is 10 tiles (you can select cities within 10 tiles of the current base of the unit). A Caravansary in the base city extends all Land routes' range by 50%. Also, if there is a road on part of the tiles, the route range is extended. Finally, the Combustion technology also extends range by adding contemporary engines to the Trade Units. After all, the camels will be replaced by trucks in the Atomic Era! Sea routes Sea trade routes are established with Cargo Ships. Their range is twice as much as that of Land routes (20 tiles), meaning they can reach cities further away. However, they can only be created between coastal cities. A Harbor in the base city extends the range of the routes. So does researching the Compass technology. Potentially, after developing all these upgrades, you can even conduct trade between continents! Principles of trading There are many benefits from International Trade Routes, and the trading mechanics are nothing short of amazingly versatile and interesting. When visiting foreign lands your merchants bring not only their goods, but also their knowledge, their culture and religion. And at the same time, they get exposed to these of the place they go to! The main point of trading with other entities is to gain Gold, while when trading with your own cities, the point is to aid growing or struggling cities with Food and Production. Trading with other civilizations This is the most profitable kind of trading, but also the least secure. Before you even try, you need to keep in mind that both you and your trading partner will benefit from the trade, so it may not be a very good idea to trade with your main rival for victory, although the nation initiating the trade always gains more benefits. Here is what you both gain: * Gold. The main product of trade, obviously is Gold. The exact amount you and your partner gain each is determined by a number of factors, among which: **The total Gold output of the origin city and the destinated city. - 5% of output of origin and destinated city, EXCLUDING revenues from other international trade routes! **The diversity of Resources available in both cities. The greater the diversity, the greater the profit. gold per improved strategic or luxury resource, present (but not necessarily worked on) in one of the connected cities, and absent in another **The distance between the cities. Trade routes sent to further cities provide more profit. seem to be true at all!!! Please, re-check it, but in my version (1.0.3.18) distance between cities doesn't affect trade route revenue. **The presence of any Gold-generating buildings, such as a Market, in the destinated city. is no special bonuses for a market or a bank. They increase trade route revenue only by increasing city gold output. **Whether the destinated city borders a river revenue bonus. Only for land trade routes. Sea trade routes doesn't get revenue bonus from river!. **Whether it is a land or a sea trade route revenue bonus for sea trade route.. * Science. Both partners gain some Science points each turn (with the initiating party gaining more). The benefit is the greater the more technologies your partner has that you have yet to discover. * Religion. If the origin city and the destinated city do not share majority religion, they also exchange influence. A really nice fine point here is that this influence isn't limited by the usual max range of religious pressure, which means you can use International Trade Route to bring your Religion to cities that you can't otherwise reach (unless you send Missionaries and Prophets, of course)! Even better, you can use Trade Routes to fulfill the City-States' demand on your Religion a lot more easily! * Tourism. Cultural influence benefits greatly from trade. The nations you establish Trade Routes with are more exposed to your Tourism than normal, meaning your normal Tourism output increases for each Trade Route you establish with this nation! So, when you're going for a Cultural Victory, destinate nations you need to influence more with your Trade Routes, using them as a backdoor for your Tourism! Other civilizations may also initiate Trade Routes to your cities. When you see Caravans and Cargo Ships coming regularly to your cities, you will know this is the case. Trading with City-States You can also establish routes with City-States. Those are less beneficial than trading with other civilizations, conducting nothing other than Gold trade and Religious influence. Still, this might prove very important in some cases, and often in the beginning of the game the range of your Caravans and Cargo Ships simply isn't sufficient to reach another civilization, especially on the larger maps. Obviously, City-States can't initiate trade routes, so establishing Trade Routes with City-States will greatly help you in gaining Influence with them. Trading with your own cities Apart from trading with other nations and City-States, you can target your own cities. The point of this is, as stated above, to aid their initial growth, or help them while struggling with production. You can transfer either Food or Production to a city. Note that in order for you to transfer Food to a city, you must have built a Granary in the origin city, while for Production you need a Workshop. Cities with neither of those two buildings can't serve as bases for domestic trade routes. Also note that when trading in this way, the origin city doesn't get any benefit, and neither does your empire as a whole. Still, this is a very good option to jump-start a city in the middle and late game, when you have many other trade routes assuring your income. Plundering trade routes Hostile entities may attack your trade routes! They could use the option Plunder Trade Route when they enter any tile part of the route. However, only entities you're at war with can plunder. Since you're always 'at war' with the Barbarians, they present an ever-present danger for your trading. Plundering a Trade Route means the route is immediately ended, the Unit which was servicing it - destroyed as well. The plunderer gets a nice amount of Gold, but also receives diplomatic outrage from the other (third) party which was participating in the trade. Plundering may become a weapon while at war, carrying a nice profit for you. Regardless, you also have to be aware of the consequences, so consider it carefully. When 'backstabbing' a trade partner, position your units in such way as to be able to plunder the trade routes they've opened with you in short time. Also, try to cancel any trade routes YOU have opened with them, because after the start of the hostilities they'll surely return the gesture! Category:Brave New World Category:Game concepts (Civ5)